Arts Ahead: What's On In London 31 August - 6 September

The cast of Clybourne Park at the Royal Court Theatre. Photo by Alastair Muir

Here's our pick of what's hot and new in the coming seven days. Plus, there's a few things closing too, so make sure you don't miss out...

Be There First: London Shows Opening

You really can be there first this week, as London's newest theatre opens its doors on Thursday. The Waterloo East Theatre opens with Aidan Dooley giving audiences his portrait of the intrepid explorer Tom Crean.

Or check out a new play at the Royal Court: Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris is a 1959-based play exploring the lines between race and poverty. It stars Martin Freeman and Steffan Rhodri, who you might recognise off the telly...

From Saturday, you can hear the stars of tomorrow perform at the Peacock Theatre as the British Youth Opera sing La Boheme and Euridice.

Artswise, David Blandy's show opens on Thursday at Seventeen in East London. It's a response to his visit to Hiroshima with his daughter; his father survived as a Japanese prisoner of war because of the atomic bombing of the city.

You can attend an interesting pairing of art exhibitions this week: Male opens at the Maureen Paley gallery in Bethnal Green, exploring masculinity, while La Belle Dame Sans Merci opens at the Vegas Gallery on Friday, looking at the idea of female allure.

Darren Almond's three-screen film installation The Principle of Movements opens at White Cube Mason's Yard on Friday, looking at Siberia's northernmost city of Norilsk, plus a series of time-lapse photographs taken around the longest day in the Faroe Islands. Also opening on Friday is Marcus Coates's new exhibition, Questions and Answers at the Kate MacGarry gallery on Vyner Street.

And from Monday, you can visit Inventing the 21st Century at the British Library, a new exhibition looking at popular inventions from the last 10 years like the Dyson Air Multiplier and Karbon Kinetic's Gocycle bike.

Last Chance To See: London Shows Closing

Thursday is your last chance to see Keeping it Real at the Whitechapel Gallery: look out for Sherrie Levine's 1996 golden urinal (actually made of bronze), alongside a 1964 limited edition version of Marcel Duchamp's "original" 1917 pissoir.